Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Some time ago, while researching a London-set story, I was astonished to discover how many hackney coach stands existed during the early 19th century. Which leads us to another lost occupation—the hackney coach waterman.

The following excerpt is from my much-loved, hard-to-find Pyne’s British Costume (originally published 1805 as The Costume of Great Britain), a book I cited a while back in my post about London’s Dustmen. Hackney coachmen, who drove individuals to specific destinations, mainly in London, are not to be confused with stage coachmen, who traveled the King’s highways according to preset routes and schedules.
~~~Hackney coaches appear upon the stand for hire, at seven o’clock in the morning in summer, and at eight in winter: twelve hundred are allowed to be kept in London and its vicinity, and each is numbered. The prices of fare are regulated; and no coachman can refuse to carry passengers for any distance short of ten miles, however stormy the weather, or however the horses may be fatigued. A certain number are reserved to relieve those that have been employed during the day, which are called night coaches, and they attend at their stands till sun-rise. Public houses are kept open during the night for the accommodation of the coachmen. The figure represented upon this plate is employed as waterman to the stand, who is licensed, and wears a badge with his number engraved thereon: his business is to feed and water the horses, and to open the door for the passengers, that the driver may remain upon his box: he also has charge of the coaches during the time that the coachmen take their meals.

The office for licensing hackney coaches was erected in the year 1696, under the direction of commissioners; they have a code of regulations, which subjects the drivers to penalties for extortion, carelessness, rude behaviour, &c. by which the public is much benefitted; as the mode of redress is rendered simple and expeditious.

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The Hackney Carriage Office still exists and still regulates all of London's Black Taxis. Quite a few 19th century taxi stands complete with their green rest huts can still be found on London streets. Also many of the regulations are still in force today - a cabbie may not refuse a fare for a journey of less than a certain distance, the cabs are all numbered, as are the cabbies, although they now display Photo ID cards rather than the old numbered discs. It is even said that the regulation requiring them to carry food for their horse is still in force - but that may be just an urban myth

My understanding is that the requirement for hackeny carriages (taxis) to carry a bale of hay for his horse has never been removed. There's also another odd law in that a hackey driver may urinate on his nearside wheel but not on the offside since that exposed him to the view of more people.

JD treelines, I thought I had taken some pictures of the green huts, but I can't find them. If I do, I'll post more on this subject. John Chapman, I didn't know about those rules--clearly, I need to explore this subject further. Alexa & Julianne, I'm glad you find this as interesting as I do! Jacki--definitely a treasure!

The first link in the post will take you to the guidebook listing prices for hackney coaches. Several other tourist guides, for different years, are available at Google Books. To translate monetary value (it's complicated) try http://eh.net/hmit/

I was in London a week ago, at Heathrow airport. I wanted to go to a destination in Harlington - not far from the airport - but was told when I reached the head of the taxi queue that no one would take me there because there isn't a place to stop the cab without getting a fine. Were the drivers allowed to refuse me as a fare because I was out at Heathrow (maybe not in city limits)?

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A Polite Explanation

There’s a big difference in how we use history. But we’re equally nuts about it. To us, the everyday details of life in the past are things to talk about, ponder, make fun of -- much in the way normal people talk about their favorite reality show.

We talk about who’s wearing what and who’s sleeping with whom. We try to sort out rumor or myth from fact. We thought there must be at least three other people out there who think history’s fascinating and fun, too. This blog is for them.